Update February 29th 2008. I’m now looking for bloggers to take on paid blogging positions for a new Upstart Blogger project. If you are interested to earning money and getting exposure by blogging then this could be just what you are looking for. Click here for more details.
After my unsuccessful attempt to sell Upstart Blogger, I’ve decided to try something different. I want to extend an invitation for upcoming Upstart Bloggers—writers and web designers—to become contributors to Upstart Blogger. Upstart Blogger has developed a strong following with an Alexa rank that should soon break 50,000, making this a great opportunity for a select group of people to use Upstart Blogger as a platform to build their own reputations. Here’s what I have in mind:
I’m looking for four people to sign on as official Upstart Bloggers. An Upstart Blogger contributor would agree to:
- Post at least once a month on a topic of interest to bloggers: writing, design, CSS, SEO, WordPress, etc. These posts can be short, 200 to 500 words or so, but should be useful.
- Release a theme once every 4 months or so (WordPress, Pligg, Blogger, etc.).
- Provide ongoing support, responding to comments and forum posts, with each contributor responsible for supporting one or more of the Upstart Blogger themes.
I would coordinate with the contributors so there would be roughly one new post each week and one new theme released each month.
I like design more than coding, so I’d also be interested in collaborating with people who could take my design ideas and code them, sharing the credit (and the links).
The site is already set up as a multi-author site. If you became a contributor, all of your posts would have your name and a link to your own site (you could even cross-post to your own site). Any themes you released would have links to your own site and Upstart Blogger. I’ll create a page introducing the contributing authors/designers.
While no money would exchange between us, I often receive offers to do WordPress or Pligg consulting or customization and I’ll add a page about support/design services giving people the option to get in touch directly with the contributor they want to work with.
The real incentive to participate is that the more you do, the greater your reputation on the site. You would only be “competing” with a couple of other people for reputation, and you’d be leveraging my good reputation and traffic to build your own.
This agreement would all be done in good faith, on a handshake. Basically, we’re exchanging some support services for advertising. It would be like me giving you free space in my store in exchange for a little dusting and cleaning. You’ll be building your reputation with a built-in, more personal audience, and promoting yourself and your own site at the same time. You can quit at any time. It has to be mutually beneficial, so if the idea isn’t working, there’s no point continuing.
I’m looking for a maximum of four people to be contributors. I have no idea how many people might be interested in this proposition, but I’m going to be fairly picky in any case. I’ll choose people based on the following criteria:
- Personality. You need to be sincere, motivated, and trustworthy. There’s no commitment, but I’m looking for people who think they might be interested in doing this for some time and who seem like they might be fun to work with. Also, you may get some business from Upstart Blogger and I want to know that I’m recommending good people.
- Skill. You need to be able to write clearly and have some chops with CSS, XHTML, and WordPress, Pligg, Blogger, or some other popular platform. You need to be able to peak into my themes and figure out what’s going on without handholding.
- Time. You should have the time for posting, and a few minutes every couple of days to check in and offer some support on the site.
- Taste. Finally, you need to have some sense of design aesthetics. They don’t have to match my own, but it helps if you share some of my design sensibilities.
If you’re interested, post a comment, including a link to your site. I’ll have a look and be in touch.
[...] buyer. In the meantime, I’m looking for contributors who want to piggyback on my traffic. See Writers and Web Designers Wanted! for [...]
Hi Robert,
I am very interested in becoming a contributor to Upstart Blogger. I’m a web developer by day and a web entrepreneur by night. I run several different websites, and am always interested in new technologies.
In the past couple years, I have become very familiar with WordPress and how to “bend it to my will”. I have received a lot of help from various online sources along the way and would jump at the opportunity to offer regular posts and comments with tips and helpful advice for others regarding WordPress, or other web design tools.
I certainly don’t claim to be the most experienced web designer for this position, but I can offer you a solid commitment to Upstart Blogger, a handshake, and my word to be as helpful as I can.
http://oneeyedview.com
http://internetattendance.com
http://wedreaming.com
David, I would be interested in doing some designs for themes. I know HTML and CSS but my real passion is in design. I would love to work together with you and a designer to create new themes. Let me know what you think.
You can check out my site and my blog.
Antonio
Sorry I meant Robert not David. It’s still early in the day for me.
Hello,i’d like to appreciate your “Modicus theme” for WP,which i ‘m using now.
Well,i have to report an small error.that is,your theme is well functioned in FireFox,but if i open my blog in IE,the error msg will be shown in the status bar as below “Object doesn’t support this property or method”.
I would be very grateful to You,if you can help.Thanks!
myblog – http://3infinite.com/blog
Hey Robert, I’d be interested in collaborating with you. I’ve long admired your design skill and generous nature. I’m going to be out of town until Monday, but you can drop me an email anytime, which you can find on my contact page.
I like the idea you got here. Look forward to seeing in evolve. Cheers.
Maybe you will need one man in Italy.
Translator? Account? Designer? Expanding the idea overseas.
Well, whistle for me. I will be very happy in collaborating with you all.
Cheers.
I just wanted to send a quick note to say thank you for the theme! It’s so easy to customize…I wasn’t able to find a theme that would match my site exactly, but this is the next best thing. Thanks for your great work!
And if someone out there could tell me how to add an ad to minim, I’d really appreciate it. I know I need to edit sidebar.php, but where exactly?
@Holly: By default there’s a placeholder in sidebar.php, which you must have removed. But you can put the code almost anywhere before an <h3> tag.
I’d be interested in writing some stuff, I’m not good at coding or design though I can write some good stuff!
Kenneth
Hi Robert, this sounds like a great idea and I’d like to be considered. I’m a full time musician who has recently launched an independent record label. I use wordpress as a platform for all of the artists blogs as well as for the label itself.
Also, we have something in common – we have both fallen out with Dreamhost. Recently they deleted all of my sites without warning and I’m still recovering some of the data since the backups are damaged. You should see some of the reasons they have given for the failure!
Here are some of the blogs I currently manage. You’ll probably recognise the starting points for the themes, especially the third on the list.
http://www.b2gs3.com – my personal blog, still being put back together after dreamhost blew a hole in it.
http://www.b2gs3 – a blog for one of our artists.
http://www.b2gs3.com – another artist on our label.
http://www.enormousreloaded.com – a band site
Is upstartblogger.com still for sale? With the current state of the US$ / UK£ (dollars are very cheap in the UK at the moment) we might be able to come to an agreement. Maybe this is something we could discuss.
@InvestorBlogger: Thanks very much for your interest, but I want to limit the number of contributors to a few so I’m looking for people who can do more than just write.
Everyone else, I am contacting people individually. Thanks for your interest!
This sounds like a fantastic opportunity, both as a writer and as a reader. I’ll admit, I may be a little green for your needs in the area of Pligg, but I think I make up for that in other ways. I’m a professional writer and graphic designer, but an amateur web-coder. In the past couple of months, though, I’ve come a long way, improving my skill with CSS considerably. Have a look for yourself and judge whether or not I’ll be ready to participate to your standards:
The Gist (thegist.wordstudio.net) is my personal blog and experimental design site. I change the look of it every couple of months or so. (See the old look at thegist.wordpress.com.)
http://www.re-paper.net is the still-being-refined website for my wife’s “hackbooking” operation. Handmade books, photography, that sort of thing.
Gameplaywright is a soon-to-debut website on story-games and design, launching this fall. You’ll recognize the theme.
Copy Number Five‘s blog was redesigned by me just recently. The user still hasn’t put content into the architecture I gave him (this site is also not public yet), but it shows what I did with the palette I was given.
Please drop me a line if you think I could be of help to you.
Cheers,
Will
Hi,
I am interested in contibuting to your blog. I am a PR and media professional and my main area of interest is in media, news and online communicaitons (blogs, podcasts and social networking sites.)
I blog for:
http://www.bristolmedia.co.uk
http://www.connectingbristol.org
My personal blog – http://www.montagecomms.com/blogger/matt_anderson/blog.html
Hello !
I use one of your modified themes for our site, and if you are looking for someone in Switzerland, it would be a great pleasure for me as an illustrator and graphic designer to collaborate.
Mathias
http://www.themes.ch
fichtre
If you’re still looking for more writers but with actual coding skills, I’m your gal. Aside from my personal blog which lists some writing credits (see themenu bar), I also run a WordPressMU- run site at homeschooljournal.net. in addition, I’m a support volunteer at mu.wordpress.com/forums/ and I write a tutorial blog at wpmututorials.com.
I just stumbled across this post as I was following your tutorial on Pligg. I would love to be a contributor to your site.
I am breaking into custom Pligg designs and already do 2-3 custom WP templates a month for clients. I am a standards junky and love designing and coding.
I am in the same boat as you in terms of not being a programmer but love to get into code and figure out how things work then make something new off of it.
I would love to discuss this opportunity more, in the meantime here is my site:
yellowbirdweb.com
Thanks,
Joey
I dont know if this offer is still open. I am interested but I have no coding skills and no experience making WordPress Themes.
Kinshuk
Hi, maybe I’m a little new to blogging in comparison to everyone else but nonetheless I’ld like to give it a try.
For some time now I’ve been blogging for the dutch http://mooismagazine.nl and since a few days I have my own blog at http://casuquo.blogspot.com . I’ve got a little bit of experience on wordpress but way more at blogger, I also understand the code etc.
Cheers!
Julius
Hi. I am interested in trying out for the Writers position for topics on WordPress SEO and customization. I just started writing stuffs on WordPress at http//ki-yay.com and prior to that I interviewed people and post it on my interview blog at http://10-questions.blogspot.com
Do take a look at it and let me know if I am right fit. Kudos! Love your themes!
I want to throw my hat into the ring for contributing to your blog. I am not a designer, so I would not be adding a theme. But, I am a content marketing specialist & connected to the Duct Tape Marketing coaches network. I focus primarily in helping companies create educational and conversational marketing strategies – centering on use of WordPress as the foundation for this. An offshoot is, of course, the tremendous search engine marketing potential of great content in a WP blog structure.
Please check out my site and let me know if you feel I’d be a fit. I’m technical enough to discuss all aspects of plugins & CSS. But I think my foundation marketing approach on content would be of more interest to your readers.
Hi,
I am a Delhi based journalist, working as Editor. I am interested in writing.
Thus help me out, how and what can i contribute.
Thanks
Hello,
I’ve been a hobbyist web-designer for about four years, I know how to code in XHTML, PHP, JavaScript, XML, XSL, XFORMS, and a few other languages.
I’ve been using WordPress for about a year and a half now, I can competently create themes from scratch and easily modify current ones to do whatever I want them to.
I share a very similar design taste in the themes created by Upstart Blogger. Minimalism and functionality is my preference.
I would love to contribute what I can to help out Upstart Blogger. Please let me know what you think.
Hello, Robert.
I am very much interested. Please contact me at your convenience.
Thank you,
Ann
Robert/Ashley.
Here’s me sneaking in here proposing something
else for your mix: weekly inspiry, focused,
non-new agey get your creativity on hacks.
Developmental editor, writing coach, optioned screenplay on board. And plenty of content for Wine.com, PeaPod, more.
I’m interested in contributing to your project. I have some experience in HTML/CSS. I’ve helped code and created most of the content for UMSolar.
My mostly political blog is here.
Hello, I am a great programmer who is advancing very fast. I more or less work on web-based games , applications in flash/actionscript, c++ apps,forums, and sometimes i contribute in blogs.
My main site :
http://revolutions.ifastnet.com
Im also into graphics(3d,2d,photoshop..etc)
Please give me an eye and check me out and hopefully consider me.
I need the money to fund future projects,
and what better way than to earn it through your own merit?
Thanks
~Aldo(my internet name, also ICalledShotgun and GodSpeed)
web portfolio: http://www.carthworks.com
Who am I
Versatile media designer with 7 years professional experience on design and web page engineering (strong knowledge of cross-browser and cross-platform issues (IE, Firefox, NE,Opera)). Capable of handling web & interactive design. Well-rounded design sense, with emphasis on typography. Thoroughly technology-savvy. Highly-motivated.
Give me a chance to contribute
W e l l,
I’m a lover not a fighter.
In other words, I’m a writer, not a designer/coder/et cetera-er.
If you’d like to add a weak link to your mix–and by “weak link” I mean the gal who hears “white noise-white noise” when you’re speaking geek-ese but who can bring the light-hearted mix, call me.
And by call me, I mean email…I’m phone-phobic.
Follow my links and you’ll find me…read my “100 Things” and you’ll begin to get the piccha.
I am a primarily a Joomla designer from India. So you still need help let me know man, and I am sure I can help you out. I do most of the content writing for my clients and I love editing CSS and changing things around.
Thanks,
Ankush Mittal
G’day Robert,
My name is Ashleigh, I’m an Australian girl living in England and I’m ridiculously interested in becomming a contributor!
I’ve been a fan of your WordPress themes for quite a while and every now and then come back to the site to see what’s going on. Now I see that you’re after designers and writers to collaborate with. I’m a bit wary of my chances of getting to work with you but I thought I’d leave a comment all the same.
Web Design is my passion in life, I don’t care if people think I’m lame for that – or for the fact that I can see complete websites when I close my eyes, haha. I don’t believe there are a lot of females that get so worked up about web design as I do.
I’ve been messing around online since I was eleven years old – my first website was about Pokemon (100 Animated GIFs anyone?) – I design websites for a living and I have quite a bit of experience ripping WordPress themes apart – oh, and building them. =P
One of my WP themes: http://ap4u2d.leviiathan.net. It’s old but it’s the only theme I have online at the moment. I haven’t been pushing the creation of WordPress themes as one of my services so for the past few years I’ve just been designing static websites for clients.
If you’d like to check out my portfolio (http://www.ashleighjames.com) and possible drop me an email (freelancer@ashleighjames.com) that’d be great. Not so much a writer (I think I’m too blunt..), I’m a designer with technical skill and am great at solving problems!
I really hope that I get to work with you, I’d love to have a reason to spend time developing WordPress themes and writing about Web Design and SEO.
- Ashleigh
I just realised I should have addressed Ashley, right? Oops! One moves countries and as a result is out of the loop and doesn’t notice when websites change hands. Tsk. Tsk. I need to pay more attention to things.
I’ve done some tinkering with the Modicus Theme and have started up the blog I’ve been wanting to start for a long time.
http://blog.ashleighjames.com
I’m still interested in becomming a contributor. I don’t want to be a pain but is there any news on that? Do you have an idea of when you’re going to be contacting people? Have you already made the decision as to who you’d like on board?
Sorry for all the questions, I’m a bit excited.
^_^
- Ashleigh
I’m a NYC fashion designer and just released http://www.sparked.biz. My blog discusses design and illustration inspiration from the fashion industry point of view. I based the WordPress site from your Minim-01 theme. It was easy to customize and edit. Thank you! If you’re interested in my background please contact me.
I’m a Philadelphia area based graphic/web designer. I love to write so I try to write in my blog as much as I can. I generally write about technology, fashion, general geeky girl ranting. I love web design and discussing topics pertaining to it. You can check out my blog and see if you think I’m right for the part.
http://www.tidalblue.net/blog
hi there,
here’s my articles about SEO
http://www.nerdgranny.com/googles-pr-is-a-gift-my-google-thoughts/
http://www.nerdgranny.com/the-time-has-come-the-walrus-said-to-talk-of-many-things/
some in english, some in italian.